Page 112 of Faithful

“You know it's complicated between my family and me.”

“I actually don’t because you don’t tell us anything, but based on my observations, I can already tell if this goes public your father will shit bricks.”

“That’s the idea.”

“Splendid. Then you’re on the right track.”

The party starts winding down around eleven and Gin recruits her nephew for cleaning duty. When I volunteer to stay and help, she yanks me out into the hallway where we are away from the ears of others and says, “Don’t worry about it. Eric and I will take care of everything. You deserve a night off.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind. It’s not a big deal.”

“Just go spend the rest of the evening with your boyfriend. It’s almost Christmas.”

It’s not just yet but it certainly feels like it. Also, boyfriend? I remind myself to ask Kai if that’s what he wants to be called.

“You did good, sport.” Gin smiles loopily. She’s drunk and red-cheeked and happy for some reason. “He’s a catch.”

“You think?” I ask with my heart in my throat. I don’t know why it’s important that she approves of Kai. Up until this point, I didn’t need anyone’s validation of our relationship, but with Gin, it’s different.

“Yes. Absolutely.”

“You don’t mind that he allegedly eats babies and drinks blood?”

She blows a raspberry. “As long as he makes you happy.”

* * *

Contrary to my boss’s order, Kai and I end up leaving closer to midnight after we help break down the reception area.

Outside, the snow has covered the vehicle completely, and Kai swipes a good amount of it off the door prior to grasping the handle.

The first thing he does when he climbs in is grab a pack of Parliaments from the cupholder, then start the engine.

I get comfortable in my own seat and turn on the heater.

Kai smokes to the whoosh of the windshield wipers, watching them with unblinking eyes.

“I think it went well,” I say.

He nods and takes another long drag, relief finally settling on his face. “It did.”

“You’re alright?”

“Yeah.” He turns to look at me, our gazes meeting in the dim light of the car. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You just… seemed a little preoccupied earlier.”

“You’re imagining it, babe.”

There’s that word again. The one that makes me all mushy on the inside.

“I gotta swing by 7-Eleven. I’m almost out of smokes,” Kai says once he’s done with his cigarette. He maneuvers the minivan out of the parking spot and around the building.

“Do you wanna stay at my place tonight?” I ask as we steer onto the empty street.

He’s silent. Then several heartbeats later, he agrees to my offer with a grunt. There are parts of me that sense some kind of turbulence in him, something brewing, but I’m blinded by the much bigger and much greater thing that happened to us today and I chalk those dark feelings up to my anxiety.

The 7-Eleven we pull up to is on a quiet corner, the lot filled with shimmering pole lights. There’s only one other vehicle parked in front of the store. Perhaps it belongs to an employee and not a customer.

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